Thursday, March 20, 2014

Reading for Brown v Board of Education

The readings for this week are not exactly readings, but things to check out online. This week marks a shift in the syllabus. Up until this point, we have been reading about broad theories about diversity and difference including the Culture of Power and issues of White Privilege. Now we are going to start to look at historical moments where these topics came into view in our schools.

Our topic this week is about Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), the historical supreme court decision that made the segregation of public schools unconstitutional.

You have FOUR tasks for this week:

1) I want you to explore this website to give you some background on Brown v. Board of Education. We will be using this in class to build a Google Doc reference sheet together, so take a lot of notes so that you feel well prepared to teach others about this court case.

2) Then I want you to watch these two videos that highlight the work of Tim Wise, author of "Between Barack and a Hard Place." Take notes while you watch so that you can refer to specific quote in your blog post and in class. What does Wise have to do with Brown v. Board of Education?

4) Read this very short article from March 2011 New York Times.
How do the issues that Bob Herbert raises shape how you think about Brown v. Board of Education?

3) Now blog about it.
What is the relationship between the historical issues you see in the website on Brown v. Board of Education and the contemporary issues of race that Bob Herbert and Tim Wise raise here?